to Mexico, briefly

Voyage # 3: To Mexico, 1911

Sometime before December 1911, Grandpa and Grandma moved their two sons, both sets of parents and Grandpa’s brothers from an unidentified city in California to Mexico. I have yet to locate records documenting their trip from California to Mexico. I believe it was aboard another vessel, but have not found record of border crossings from the US to Mexico, they may not even exist. We also do not know if the voyage was the end of 1910 or during 1911. We do know they boarded the ship back to California in Dec 1911.

According to conversations between Aunt Emma and Aunt Mary, everyone traveled to Mexico so that Grandpa Juan could be a foreman on some sort of plantation there. Perhaps it was a rubber or tobacco plantation. Aunt Mary thinks it was not a sugar plantation, but Cousin Tony does.

What information I do have about their trip from Mexico back to California was told to Aunt Mary by Aunt Emma when Mary was a small child (remember they are 18 ½ yrs apart).

Grandpa woke the family up during the night and all of our family members retuned to California. The story goes that they left because Poncho Villa went on a killing rampage to avenge his “wife’s” murder. But as his true and first wife (he had many) outlived Poncho, it is more likely that it was over the killing of his soladera.

History tells us of two instances that might fit our timeline. The first has would have to do with the women who served as soldiers. These women were called soladeras. Besides fighting alongside the men, these women served as cooks and nurses. During one of his battles, Poncho Villa discovered his own soladera or adelita, dead on the battlefield. I am not sure of the exact date, but it could have happened in late 1911.

The second possibility was when Mexican President Portillo Diaz fell from power in 1911. At this time Poncho Villa maneuvered to take control of the country. The U.S. President, Woodrow Wilson, refused to support Villa’s bid for power. In retaliation, Villa began killing Americans traveling on Mexican trains. 

It is likely that either one or even both of these events contributed to Poncho Villa’s rampage. What ever the reason, our family returned to California boarding the SS City of Sydney in Salina Cruz Mexico and sailed back to San Francisco.

Since Aunt Mary is quite sure it was a rubber or tobacco plantation, they were probably not working in Salina Cruz since Salina Cruz is known for its sugar plantations. Cousin Tony’s impression is that the place of employment was a sugar plantation.

This leaves me with a few questions, I would like to know if they traveled by ship and when. How did Grandpa found out about the job, what employment opportunities existed for the rest of the family?  I also seem to remember something about a train ride in the middle of the night, which leads me to wonder where this plantation was.